Skin
by MellyIsSmelly
Summary: Hermione&Ron pairing, songfic: Skin by Rascal Flatts. Set in seventh year, a short one... R&R! On hiatus.
1. Prom and Annoyances

**-Ahem-, my first songfic. This story is about the song Skin by Rascal Flatts. Which is sad. xD. But anyways, this is just like a normal Hogwarts year—except it's in the seventh year. And there's no Voldemort. And Professor Dumbly-Dore isn't dead. And Harry and Ginny are still together. And Ron and Hermione are together. But anyways, xD. Enjoy. **

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Hermione Granger was sitting on the armchair near the fireplace when her best friends, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter walked in animatedly talking about something. She rolled her eyes and tried focusing on her book.

_Stupid Ron, what a prat, _she thought to herself.

Ron was still talking to Harry and pretended he didn't notice Hermione ignoring him. He turned to Harry and winked at him and quietly said, "I can get her to talk to me."

Harry rolled his eyes. His friends were always fighting together.

"So, what's McGonagall talking about?" he loudly said as he sat on the other chair by Hermione.

Harry sat on her other side and said, "What do you mean, Ron?"

"For some reason, the Muggle Studies class wants to have a _prom_, as an experiment that's really popular with 17 year olds," he complained.

"What's wrong with that?" Harry asked.

"I mean, it's just like another _ball_," he murmured. He stole a quick glance at Hermione and noticed her biting her lip in exasperation. _She's cracking, good. One more comment should do it._

"What's the whole point of this _prom_ anyways? And what is it?"

Ron jumped at the loud slam and turned to Hermione in surprise. She glared at him with annoyance.

"Honestly, _Ronald_, maybe if you actually spent more time _reading_ and less time _catching_ bloody balls for Quidditch, you would know what prom is!" she snapped.

At this, Harry jumped up, "Hey! Quidditch isn't just catching balls!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. She put her hands up in surrender. "Okay, I'm sorry, but if some people played Quidditch and were actually _smart_!"

"Like Krum, eh?" Ron smirked but instantly yelped in pain. Hermione had thrown her book at him, straight at his head. "What the blood hell was that for?"

Harry laughed and turned to Hermione. "Maybe you have a future in Quidditch, 'Mione."

She only rolled her eyes and stormed up the girl's dormitories.

"Wait, Hermione!" Ron started to run after her and Harry was about to warn him about how guys weren't allowed to go up the girl's dormitories, but it _was_ funny…

And, indeed, Ron came sliding down with curses flying out of his mouth. He walked over to Harry, while rubbing his backside and still muttering darkly to himself.

"Two more months until prom…" he murmured.

"60 more chances," Harry chuckled.


	2. Dirty Distractions

The next day, Ron met up with Hermione in the great hall and plopped down next to her on the bench.

"Hello, 'Mione, love," he teased sweetly.

"Oh, please, Ron. Don't you dare," Hermione glared at him.

"I'm sorry!" he told her truthfully.

"You know, maybe it means a lot to me to be part of the prom committee. Maybe," she sniffed, "I want to do what normal people are supposed to do!"

He blinked in response. "Normal? You mean, _muggles_? C'mon, Hermione, they send pieces of papers back that could get lost or someone could read them or they have pieces of _wire_ that you could talk to! What the hell is that?"

Hermione only stared at him before turning away and continued to eat. For the first time in a long time, Ron didn't feel like eating. Harry walked over to them with a lopsided grin but it faded when he saw that they were still in a fight. He sighed and sat down next to Ron.

"Good going, mate," Harry grumbled.

"Well, it's not like _you_ have a date," Ron shot at him.

Harry cleared his throat and looked away uncomfortably. Ron's mouth dropped open as he looked from Harry to his little sister, Ginny, who was at the other end of the Gryffindor table.

"You already asked her?" Ron gasped.

Harry rolled his eyes.

"Next, you'll be telling me you've been snogging this whole time!" he accused. When Harry did not deny it Ron let out an exasperated groan.

He felt courage (and exasperation) swell up inside of him and turned to Hermione. "Hermione, would you like to—."

He was interrupted by Draco Malfoy who strode by and commented to Hermione, "I thought they didn't allow owl's to build nests in here… Oh, _wait_, that's Granger's hair!"

Ron growled under his breathe and stood up to defend Hermione and felt Harry rise with him. All around the great hall, voices were silenced as everyone felt the air tense.

"Were you going to do something, Weasley? About to defend your Mud-Blood girlfriend, perhaps?" he sneered, looking at Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe for support or just to look at them, who knew?

Hermione rolled her eyes in annoyance and got up from her bench to walk away before she actually had the guts to stick her wand in his eye.

"_Fallaparus!_" Draco shouted, his wand pointing at Hermione.

She tripped hard on the ground and giggles could be heard the Slytherin and Ravenclaw's table. The Gryffindors silenced them with cold stares.

"Why, you _bastard_," Ron reached back to punch Draco in the face when he felt a strong grip on his arm. Ron looked eye-to-eye with his despicable Potions teacher.

"Violence, Weasley? 150 points for disturbing the great hall. And Draco," Snape turned to him and nodded at Hermione, who was still on the floor, "good job taking out the Mud-Blood."

From behind them, they could hear the tinkling of their points decrease.

Snape let go of Ron and walked away with a smirk on his face. Hermione finally stood up and brushed off her robes with as much dignity as she could muster.

"Tsk, tsk, Granger. You better be more careful," Malfoy gave that evil sneer of his and walked away.

"'Mione?" Ron asked quietly, rushing to her side.

She kept her head down and sniffed a little. "It's okay, Ron. I'm fine."

Harry stood there with his mouth agape and felt such hatred for Malfoy at that time. He looked at Hermione from up and down to make sure she was okay. His eyes stopped at her leg.

"'Mione," Harry stared. "Your leg, it's bleeding!"

Hermione looked down and noticed the blood trickling down her leg. She nodded and gathered her stuff and walked into the Gryffindor common room.

"Is she fine, mate?" Harry asked quietly.

"I hope so," Ron replied back.


	3. Still Bleeding

**Sorry, my internet was down. On the plus side, I wrote a lot more:D**

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It's been days since the incident in the great hall and Draco has not let anyone forget about it—boasting to anyone about his successful spell to anyone who would listen.

Harry frowned with concern since he had not seen Hermione outside of class. Ron was in a bad mood since that day and Harry didn't dare to approach him about it, lest Ron would burst out about how many ways he could kill Draco.

During a free period, Harry ran as fast as he could to the Gryffindor common room to see if Hermione was there.

"Password?" the portrait asked him.

"Flavor beans," Harry answered and the door had swung open. Harry peered in and noticed Hermione getting up to go to her room. "Hermione!"

She froze and reluctantly turned to face him. Harry sucked in his breath as he saw his best friend who… at the same time wasn't his best friend. Because of the dim in the classrooms, he never really noticed how bad Hermione looked. She had a large bruise from her neck that probably traveled down further but was covered with her robes. She looked pale and sick.

"Hermione!" he cried again, taking another step towards her.

All of the feelings of loneliness crept away from her as she ran to hug her best friend. "Harry, I don't know what's going on," she whispered tearfully.

"Maybe you should go see Madam Pomfrey?" Harry suggested.

She said nothing and only looked down. She sat in the closest armchair and reached up from her robes. There was a cloth wrapped around her leg—the one that was bleeding—and she started to unwrap it. Harry watched this all fearfully and concernedly. When she was done unwrapping the bandage, his eyes widened—it was still bleeding.

"But, wasn't that days ago?" Harry asked, confused.

Hermione nodded, tears in her eyes.

"Hermione, you really should go to Madam Pomfrey. She'll figure out what's up," he gave her a reassuring smile. Hermione nodded and smiled, thankful that her best friend knew what to do. They got up and walked to the door when Hermione froze, putting her hand on his arm tightly.

"Where's Ron?" she asked.

"I think he's in the great hall, why?" he wondered.

"Oh." Hermione replied back weakly and fainted.


	4. Dad's Interrogation

"Is she okay? When will she wake up?" Hermione heard voices that were familiar and almost sounded like heaven to her.

"Mom?" she drowsily asked.

"Oh! Hermione, are you okay, dear?" Mrs. Granger fussed over her, touching at her forehead often.

"Honey, let Hermione get her rest," a rough voice told her.

"Dad?" Hermione sat up a little and her eyes focused on her parents. Also in the room was the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. "But, I thought that you couldn't see Hogwarts?"

"Ah," Professor Dumbledore interrupted gently. "I let down magic spells around the school so your parents could come in, Ms. Granger."

"Oh, well… what's wrong with me?" She asked out loud.

Her parents exchanged nervous glances.

_That's not good_, Hermione thought grimly.

"We… don't know yet, dear," her mother said softly.

"But, Madam Pomfrey—." She started to say.

"Madam Pomfrey only specializes in wizard medicine and diseases," Professor Dumbledore told her.

"But… I… This is a… _Muggle_ disease then?" she said, struggling to understand. For once in Hermione's life, she did not understand what was happening, and this would not be the first.

"Yes," he said slowly. "We have a muggle doctor with us right now, someone that's trustworthy. An uncle of one of your classmates."

Hermione nodded and fell back on the pillow. Her heart felt as if something was squeezing it with a cold hand. Truthfully, she was scared to death and more than anything, she wanted Ron to be with her.

"When will we be able to know what's happening?" Hermione asked.

"Soon, soon," he smiled at her and patted her hand. Professor Dumbledore excused himself and walked quietly out of the room.

"'Mione!" the voice of the person she was just thinking about rang throughout the room. "Are you okay?"

Hermione looked up at the boy—no, man—she's grown to love over the years. His imperfections only made him more perfect to her. The freckles splattered over his nose and cheeks and his messy red hair were the kinds of things she looked forward to everyday.

"Oh, Ron, I'm so glad you're here!" Hermione clasped his hand and smiled up at him.

"Ahem," her parents cleared their throat to indicate they were still there.

"Oh!" Hermione let go of his hand and felt herself blush. "Ron, these are my parents. Mum, Dad, this is Ron Weasley," a gulp, "my boyfriend."

"So, you're dating my daughter, eh?" Mr. Granger folded his arms around his chest and tried to look tall when, in fact, Ron was taller than him.

Ron gulped as well, his shyness overcoming him. "Yes, sir," he replied respectfully.

Mr. Granger stood in front of Ron and glared icily into Ron's eyes and whispered in an equally cold voice, "You won't hurt her, right?"

Ron turned a deep red and replied back with a protective tone, "I'd give my life for her safety."

This time it was Hermione's turn to blush. Ron had never said anything sweet like that to her and, well, she had _liked_ it. She smiled softly to herself when her father, finally realizing Ron would never hurt her—on purpose, at least.

"Mr. and Mrs. Granger, a word please," Madam Pomfrey stepped into a room and smiled at them warmly with a strange look in her eyes.

"Can't I come to?" Hermione protested.

"But of course, but it's only immediate family only, Mr. Weasley," as he stepped forward to go along.

He scowled at the floor and forced a smile at the three. "Well, tell me how it goes, okay, 'Mione?"

Hermione had walked out of her bed and to him. She hugged him tightly and followed her parents out of the room.

Before stepping into Madam Pomfrey's office, Hermione froze. She then realized what the strange look in Madam Pomfrey's eyes was… It was a look of sadness.


	5. Leukemia

"Please, have a seat, Mr. Granger, Mrs. Granger," Dr. Bones replied. "And you too, Hermione, you should sit too."

They both nodded and sat on the armchairs and awaited the news. Madam Pomfrey stood in the corner stiffly, feeling as if she wanted to be anywhere but here.

Dr. Bones sat in behind the desk and rubbed at his forehead wearily. "There's no easy way to say this, so I'll just say it."

Hermione sucked in her breath. _The bad news._

He had turned to her and started to explain. "You see, Hermione, there's a certain order your white and red blood cells are supposed to take. Very few times, the white blood cells are increasingly higher than the red blood cells. And that's your case. Something's not right with your blood cells. But, I promise, we're going to take care of you."

"Do you mean… that… I have _cancer_," Hermione let out in a surprised breath.

He nodded gravely and Hermione heard a muffled sobbing from her mother and her father whispering soothing words to her mother. She did not look at them, only at the doctor's face. Staring, waiting for him to tell her it was just a joke, only a joke. It did not come.

"The good news is," he smiled thinly, "Six chances in ten, it won't come back again with the therapy we're going to try. It's just been approved, it's the strongest there is, and I think we caught it in time."

"Chemotherapy, then?" she whispered in a strangled voice that didn't sound like hers.

"Yes, but look at the odds," he smiled.

"And still, people die from cancer all the time," Hermione replied back in that strange voice.

"Leukemia is common, but still, hundreds of people live," he insisted.

Hermione nodded and got up from her chair. Her parents reached to her to comfort her but she shied away from their touch. She pushed the door open and ran to the Gryffindor common room.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" voices asked all around her but she hadn't actually heard them all clearly, it was all a blur.

The tears in her eyes made everything unfocused but she still ran through the groups of people and up the stairs into her shared dorm room. Only then, did she let the tears fall.


	6. Dancing With Her First Love

_Hermione opened her eyes and was standing in the great hall. She looked down at her attire and gasped at the sight. She was wearing a sleeveless white-glittery dress with matching white heels. She also had on white gloves that went from up to her elbows. Hermione reached up and felt her hair and realized it was straightened and tied up in a neat bun with a white headband securing it._

_She walked out through the corridors and had an important urge to go to the square—the middle of the school with the trees and benches. She arrived there in seconds and was slightly disappointed to find it was empty._

_Hermione heard a sound and spun around and noticed a figure standing by one of the large trees. She should have been scared but wasn't, not at all. Just staring at that mysterious figure made her heart flutter._

_"Ron?" she asked._

_But there was no reply. The figure walked toward her and she couldn't make out his face but inside… she did not care._

_He had put his left hand on her waist and put his right hand up for her to hold. Slowly, she put her left hand in his and put her right hand on his shoulder. Hermione closed her eyes and gracefully, they had both moved across the square to the music that wasn't there and at the same time, ringing through their ears. He pulled her close and she put her head on his chest, hearing his steady heartbeat and feeling the soft wind blowing in her hair. Hermione looked up at him and knew—without really seeing—that he was going to say something._

_Deep inside her mind, she saw him open his mouth and say, "Hermione—."_

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"Hermione!" a voice shouted from the bed. "We're going to be late!"

She opened her eyes and felt an annoyance at being interrupted but it flashed away when she saw who had interrupted her.

"Ginny, what are we late for, exactly?" Hermione rubbed at her eyes sleepily.

"The Prom meeting!" Ginny practically yelled. She threw Hermione's robes at her and started pulling on hers at the same time.

"What time is it?" she yawned.

"7 PM!" Ginny had started to brush her hair with such intensity it almost rivaled terrifying.

Hermione stopped in mid-yawn and jumped out of the bed. _Have I really been sleeping for that long?_ Ever since she fell a few days ago, Hermione had felt more and more tired with less energy to go on. She looked down at what she was wearing and felt a little disappointed that she was wearing pajamas (how she got into pajamas, I have no idea) and not that exquisite gown from her dream.

Hermione thought about changing but just shrugged. No one could see what she was wearing under her robes anyways. She pulled on her robes and her and Ginny ran down the stairs and into two people.

"Oof!" The sound came from four different directions and Hermione rubbed her head and felt someone lift her up.

"Okay, 'Mione?" Ron asked from behind her.

She smiled at the pet name he had given her that a few other people had called her, but most of all, it was only Ron who had. She hugged him then, which surprised all four of them as Hermione and Ron never showed public displays of affections—Ginny and Harry had enough public displays for all of them.

"Ready, Ginny?" Harry's hand had found its way to Ginny's hand and held onto it.

Hermione cocked an eyebrow but only Ginny had caught it.

"I invited Harry to come with us, that's okay, right?" Ginny pleaded.

She smiled and nodded and asked Ron if he wanted to go as well. He had accepted.

As they walked to Professor McGonagall's office, they chatted away but Hermione's heart wasn't in the subject. It was still in the dream.


End file.
